This thesis is a study of laughter (le "rire") and strangeness ("l'insolite") in five novels (Les Jumeaux du Diable, La Jument Verte, La Vouivre, Travelingue, La Belle Image) by French writer Marcel Ayme (1902--1967). The theoretical notions used are mainly provided by literary and philosophical works from Bakhtine and Ricoeur; they also come from the rich literary tradition of humour and supernatural (le "merveilleux"). An intimate reading of the funniness (la "drolerie") in the stories allows one to characterize each novel in particular, but it also provides essential grounds to some reflections on Marcel Ayme's art of the novel. Among aspects treated, great emphasis is put on supernatural beings (devil, fabulous animal), the splitting of narrative voice, on connivance and transgression, on exacerbation of materiality and resolution of antagonisms, on ambivalence of meaning and on humor as a refusal of seriousness.

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The drole de roman gathers works by Marcel Ayme, Albert Cohen and Raymond Queneau, French novelists who belong to the same generation, share common readers and inspiration and, most of all, a specific vision: the nonserious. Their novels draw from the most obvious manifestations of the comical tradition (farce, burlesque) to its most subtle (irony, parody). In their works, laughter does not occupy a secondary position nor does it simply provide some reading impressions. In fact, laughter is often expressed by the characters and narrators themselves, whose sense of mischeviousness demonstrates the Rabelaisian joy of body and soul. / Besides, the drole is not restricted to its usual comical characteristics. In the prospect of literary history, it also refers to what stands apart from the realistic conventions inherited from Balzac and Zola. In other words, the drole is made of antirealism, merveilleux and fantasy. Thus, Ayme, Cohen and Queneau put forward their own response to the mimetic function of the 19th century realistic novel. Instead of renouncing the power of fiction, as Gide and Valery will often suggest, instead of denouncing its falseness, the three novelists give fiction even greater powers. / Based on the conclusions of the history of the novel and on studies concerning various aspects of its construction (the relation between reality and fiction, the conception of character and of its place in the community, the forms of the plot), this thesis wishes to shed light on the role and value of laughter through the study of three major themes: comedy, community and enchantment.

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The goal of this paper is to map and classify the short stories of French author Marcel Aymé. In the first part of the work the characterstics of the short story as a literary genre are defined and its evolution during the 20th century is illustrated. In the second part, Aymé's life is described as well as general characteristics of his work are exposed and put into contemporary literary context. In the third and main part of the work, Aymé's short stories are presented and the thematic groups are stated (set up as based on the lecture of Aymé's collected short stories), into which the individual stories can be included. Each one of these groups is then explained separately and its general characteristics are outlined. The conclusion then presents the basic thematic overview of the stories.

Le conte merveilleux, par ses caractéristiques et sa structure narrative universellement identique, peut constituer un support privilégié de la classe de langue. Son utilisation adéquate permet à l’enseignant de guider l’apprenant vers une acquisition de toutes les compétences : linguistiques, culturelles, interculturelles et fonctionnelles. Le présent travail s’appuie sur les notions théoriques associées à l’étude de ce genre littéraire. Les activités proposées sont destinées aux élèves chinois de français dans le secondaire, par lesquelles, les enseignants peuvent amener leurs élèves à partir dans le voyage merveilleux des contes français et chinois. Ainsi les élèves peuvent apprendre à aimer lire en français et découvrir le plaisir de vivre le conte dans la classe. / The marvelous tale, with his characteristics and his narrative structure universally similar, forms a privileged support in language class. The use of tale allows the teachers to guide their pupils to acquire all the competences: the linguistic, the cultural and the functional competences. Our work includes many theories that have a link with this literary kind. We suggest some activities for the Chinese pupils of secondary school. With these activities, the teachers may lead their students to go to a marvelous travel in the world of French and Chinese marvelous tales. The students learn to love reading in French and discover the pleasure to live the tales in the class.